Real estate
Real estate is a legal term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. Real estate is often considered synonymous with real property (also sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property (also sometimes called chattel or personalty). However, for technical purposes, some people prefer to distinguish real estate, referring to the land and fixtures themselves, from real property, referring to ownership rights over real estate. The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property.

In recent years, many economists have recognized that the lack of effective real estate laws can be a significant barrier to investment in many developing countries. In most societies, rich or poor, a significant fraction of the total wealth is in the form of land and buildings. In most advanced economies, the main source of capital used by individuals and small companies to purchase and improve land and buildings is mortgages -- bank loans for which the real property itself constitutes collateral. Banks are willing to make such loans at favorable rates in large part because if the borrower does not make payments the lender can foreclose, that is file a court action that lets them take the property and sell it to get their money back. But in many developing countries there is no effective means by which a lender could foreclose, so the mortgage loan industry as such either does not exist at all or is only available to members of privileged social classes.

In spite of the name, real estate has no connection with the concept of reality (in other words, the law does not consider real property more "real" than personal property). It derives instead from the feudal principle that in a monarchy, all land was considered the property of the king. Thus originally the term real estate was equivalent to "royal estate", real originating from the French royale, as it was the French-speaking Normans who introduced feudalism to England and thus to the English language; cognate to Spanish real.

Real estate appraisal
A real estate appraisal is a service performed, by an appraiser, that develops an opinion of value based upon the highest and best use of real property. The highest and best use is that use which produces the highest possible value for the property. This use must be profitable and probable. Also of importance is the definition of the type of value being developed and this must be included in the appraisal, ie fair market value, condemnation value, quick sale value, etc. The most common type of value sought being the fair market value.

There are three usual approaches to determining the fair market value of a property, cost approach, sales comparison approach, and income approach. The appraiser will determine which of the approaches is applicable and develop an appraisal based upon information from each individual market area. Costs, income, and sales vary widely from area to area and particular importance is given to the specific location of the property.

Real estate broker
A real estate broker is in the business of brokering real estate transactions; this is, finding sellers for those who want to buy real estate and finding buyers for those trying to sell real estate. Real estate brokers and their salespersons assist sellers in marketing their property and selling it for the highest possible price under the best terms and assist buyers by helping them purchase property for the best possible price under the best terms. In many jurisdictions, particularly in the United States, a license is required to be a real estate broker.

Real estate developer
A real estate developer makes improvements of some kind to real property, thereby increasing its value. The developer may be an individual, but is more often a partnership, limited liability company or corporation.

There are two major categories of real estate development activity: Land Development and Building Development (also known as Project Development).

Property management
A property management company typically acts as a liaison between the landlord and tenant. Duties of property management companies include accepting rent, responding to and repairing problems, advertising properties for landlords, and doing credit and background checks for tenants. In exchange for the service they provide property management companies typically charge landlords 8-10% of the gross rent collected each month, in addition to lease commissions. If disclosed in the management agreement repair costs may be marked by some property managers. Some property management companies also manage home owner associations (HOAs).

In addition to managing income and expense related activity, property managers can also manage construction, development, repair and maintenance on a property. The direction / choreography of repair/maintenance is quite a large part of a property manager's function. Property manager relations with Tenants gives a face to the Landlord and provides them the necessary buffer servicing their desire to profit and distance themselves from their tenant constituency.

There are many facets to this profession, including participating and/or initiating litigation with tenants, contractors and insurance agencies. Litigation alone is at times considered an entirely separate function, set aside for trained attorneys. Although a person or persons will be responsible for this in their job description, they may or may not be an attorney working under a property manager. Special attention is given to Landlord/Tenant law and most commonly, evictions, non-payment, harassment, reduction of pre-arranged services, and public nuisance are legal subjects that gain the most amount of attention from property managers. Therefore, it is a necessity that a property manager be current with new laws and practices in their given localities, cities and states.

Relocation services
Relocation is a process of moving people or business to a different place. Relocation services are the services focused on full relocation of families or business.

Family relocation happens when a member of the family is moving to work abroad (diplomats, managers etc.). An agency providing relocation services directs and manages the process of relocation including arranging necessary documents (visa, long-term stay permissions), finding a new house (accommodation), finding a school for children (education), finding a job for the partner (work) and arranging a teacher for the family (language teaching).

Business relocation includes founding a new company based in a new country (governmental permissions, official documents etc.), renting a new office space, hiring workers.

Some corporate relocation firms charge fees to the company and pass it on to the employees, some don't.

Real estate economics
Real estate economics is the application of economic techniques to real estate markets. It tries to describe, explain, and predict patterns of real estate prices, building production, and real estate consumption. The closely related field of housing economics is narrower in scope, concentrating on residential real estate markets. Both draw on partial equilibrium analysis (supply and demand), urban economics, spatial economics, and finance.

Demand for housing
The main determinants of the demand for housing are demographic. However other factors like income, price of housing, cost and availability of credit, consumer preferences, investor preferences, price of substitutes and price of compliments all play a role.

The core demographic variables are population size and population growth : the more people in the economy, the greater the demand for housing. But this is an oversimplification. It is necessary to consider family size, the age composition of the family, the number of first and second children, net migration (immigration minus emigration), non-family household formation, the number of double family households, death rates, divorce rates, and marriages. In housing economics, the elemental unit of analysis is not the individual as it is in standard partial equilibrium models. Rather, it is households that demand housing services: typically one household per house. The size and demographic composition of households is variable and not entirely exogenous. It is endogenous to the housing market in the sense that as the price of housing services increase, household size will tend also to increase.

Income is also an important determinant. Empirical measures of the income elasticity of demand in North America range from 0.5 to 0.9 (De Leeuw, F. 1971). If permanent income elasticity is measured, the results are a little higher (Kain and Quigley 1975) because transitory income varies from year-to-year and across individuals so positive transitory income will tend to cancel out negative transitory income. Many housing economists use permanent income rather than annual income because of the high cost of purchasing real estate. For many people, real estate will be the most costly item they will ever buy.

Real estate investment trust
A real estate investment trust or REIT (rhymes with treat) is a tax designation for a corporation investing in real estate that reduces or eliminates corporate income taxes. The REIT structure was designed to provide a similar structure for investment in real estate as mutual funds provide for investment in stocks. When organized as a public company, ownership shares in REITs trade on public stock market exchanges like shares of common stock in other firms. REITs generally pay no federal income tax but are subject to a number of special requirements set forth in the Internal Revenue Code, one of which is the requirement to annually distribute at least 90% of its taxable income in the form of dividends to its shareholders. In practice, many REITs distribute substantially all of their current earnings and more, often resulting in dividend yields comparable to bond yields. (If an investment company such as a REIT distributes more than it actually earns in a year, the excess distribution is considered "return of capital" and is treated differently for tax purposes.) The distribution requirement may hamper a REIT's ability to retain earnings and generate growth from internal resources. This and other restrictions imposed by the Code generally limit a REIT's suitability for growth-oriented investors, but investors would be well-advised to fully consider a REIT's upside (or downside) potential for changes in its stock price, which can be very sensitive to environmental factors (e.g. changes in prevailing interest rates).

Real property
Real property is a legal term encompassing real estate and ownership interests in real estate. It is a type of property differentiated from personal property. This article discusses the ownership of land using the interpretation of real property as a legal term used in Anglo-American common law jurisdictions. Other legal geopolitical systems of government have different legal interpretations concerning the ownership of land. Terminology varies in these systems, as well: for instance, heritable property in Scotland; immovable property in India; and immobilier in France.

Land relationship to owner
Real property is not just the ownership of property and buildings, it includes many legal relationships between owners of real estate that are purely conceptual such as the easement, where a neighboring property may have some right on your property, right-of-way, or the right to pass over a property, and incorporeal heridiments such as profit a prendre. Real property can also be held in various ways. In some jurisdictions it is held absolutely, in England it may still be considered to be carved out of Crown's ownership of all property in the realm. Such distinctions are important in terms of the law of escheat or when property reverts to the state because it lacks an owner or has been abandoned.

Estate law
Estates may also be held jointly as joint tenants with rights of survivorship or as tenants in common. The difference in these two types of joint ownership of an estate in land is basically the inheritability of the estate. In joint tenancy (or in marriage this is sometimes called tenancy of the entirety) the surviving tenant (or tenants) become the sole owner (or owners) of the estate. Nothing passes to the heirs of the deceased tenant. In some jurisdictions the magic words "with right of survivorship" must be used or the tenancy will assumed to be tenants in common. Tenants in common will have a heritable portion of the estate in proportion to their ownership interest which is presumed to be equal amongst tenants unless otherwise stated in the transfer deed. There are other types of estates in land that are used to prevent the alienation of land (also used in the law of trusts). Generally these are called future interests, an example being the rule against perpetuities. See also the Rule in Shelley's Case.

Real property may not only be owned it may be leased in which the possession of the property is given to the tenant for a limited period of time. Such leases are also called estates such as an estate for years, a periodic tenancy or an estate at will.

Real property may also be owned jointly through the device of the condominium or cooperative.

Economic aspects of real property
Because real property is essential for industry or other activity requiring a lot of fixed physical capital, economics is very concerned with real property and rules regarding its valuation and disposition, and obligations accrueing to its owners. In economic terms, real property consists of some natural capital (or land, one of the factors of production especially in agriculture), and infrastructural capital (the buildings, water and power lines, and other improvements necessary to make real property useful for some human purpose). Other fixed physical assets, indistinguishable economically from infrastructure, such as machines, may be stored on real property and may require natural or infrastructural attributes (such as running water for a turbine or an isolated location to allow loud noise emissions) hard to duplicate even nearby.

Personal property
Personal property is a type of property. In the common law systems personal property may also be called chattels. It is distinguished from real property, or real estate or realty. In the civil law systems personal property is often called movable property or movables - any property that can be moved from one location or another. This term is in distinction with immovable property or immovables, such as land and buildings.

Personal property may be classified in a variety of ways, such as goods, money, negotiable instruments, securities, and intangible assets including choses in action.

The distinction between these types of property is significant for a variety of reasons. Usually one's rights on movables are more attenuated than one's rights on immovables (or real property). The statutes of limitations or prescriptive periods are usually shorter when dealing with personal or movable property. Real property rights are usually enforceable for a much longer period of time and in most jurisdictions real estate and immovables are registered in government-sanctioned land registers. In some jurisdictions, rights (such as a lien or other security interest) can be registered against personal or movable property.

In the common law it is possible to place a mortgage upon real property. Such mortgage requires payment or the owner of the mortgage can seek foreclosure. Personal property can often be secured with similar kind of device, variously called a chattel mortgage, trust receipt, or security interest. In the United States, Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code governs the creation and enforcement of security interests in most (but not all) types of personal property.

There is no similar institution to the mortgage in the civil law, however a hypothec is a device to secure real rights against property. These real rights follow the property along with the ownership. In the common law a lien also remains on the property and it is not extinguished by alienation of the property; liens may be real or equitable.

Many jurisdictions levy a personal property tax, an annual tax on the privilege of owning or possessing personal property within the boundaries of the jurisdiction. Automobile and boat registration fees are a subset of this tax. Most household goods are exempt as long as they are kept or used within the household; the tax usually becomes a problem when the taxing authority discovers that expensive personal property like art is being regularly stored outside of the household.

Why Buying a Home is a Good Idea 

The Best Investment As a fairly general rule, homes appreciate about four or five percent a year. Some years will be more, some less. The figure will vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, and region to region.

Five percent may not seem like that much at first. Stocks (at times) appreciate much more, and you could easily earn over the same return with a very safe investment in treasury bills or bonds.

Income Tax Savings

Because of income tax deductions, the government is subsidizing your purchase of a home. All of the interest and property taxes you pay in a given year can be deducted from your gross income to reduce your taxable income.

For example, assume your initial loan balance is $150,000 with an interest rate of eight percent. During the first year you would pay $9969.27 in interest. If your first payment is January 1^st, your taxable income would be almost $10,000 less – due to the IRS interest rate deduction.

Property taxes are deductible, too. Whatever property taxes you pay in a given year may also be deducted from your gross income, lowering your tax obligation.

When you rent a place to live, you can certainly expect your rent to increase each year – or even more often. If you get a fixed rate mortgage when you buy a home, you have the same monthly payment amount for thirty years. Even if you get an adjustable rate mortgage, your payment will stay within a certain range for the entire life of the mortgage – and interest rates aren’t as volatile now as they were in the late seventies and early eighties.

Imagine how much rent might be ten, fifteen, or even thirty years from now? Which makes more sense?

Some people are just lousy at saving money, and a house is an automatic savings account. You accumulate savings in two ways. Every month, a portion of your payment goes toward the principal. Admittedly, in the early years of the mortgage, this is not much. Over time, however, it accelerates.

Second, your home appreciates. Average appreciation on a home is approximately five percent, though it will vary from year to year, and in some years may even depreciate.. Over time, history has shown that owning a home is one of the very best financial investments

Buying a Home With Resale Value - the House

Buying a Home With a View

Homes with a pleasant view of the horizon often sell at a premium above similar homes without the view. However, if a view is important to you, buy it mostly for your own pleasure and not as an investment. Though you may place a considerable dollar value on the view, future buyers may not be so like-minded. It may take you longer to find a buyer when it comes time to resell the house. Or you may end up dropping your price to more nearly match other sales prices in the neighborhood.

In short, if you are buying a house with a view, try to pay as little extra as possible. Otherwise, you might not get your money back.

Lot and Landscaping

Even though most real estate value is usually concentrated in the building, the lot is important, too. Obviously, it should be as level as possible. Assuming the property is in a typical neighborhood, the lot should be rectangular – no odd shaped lots or oddly situated lots.

Yard sizes are smaller in modern homes than in older homes, but there should still be a decently sized front and back yard. Do not buy a house where the entire back yard is taken up by a swimming pool, for example.

Do not purchase an over-landscaped property, either. You would normally pay a premium for that, which you may not be able to recover when you sell. You will get your best value if the house is moderately landscaped or under-landscaped for the area. You can always improve the landscaping during your ownership by improving the grass and adding bushes and trees. Just do not spend too much.

House Size

In each residential neighborhood, houses will vary in size and rooms, but they should not be too different. If resale value is an important consideration, you should not buy the largest model in the neighborhood. When determining market value, the homes nearest to yours are most important. If most of the nearby houses are smaller than your house, they can act as a drag on appreciation.

On the other hand, if you buy a small or medium house for the neighborhood, the larger homes can help pull up your value. This is one of those times where determining your "wants" versus your "needs" can be extremely important. Buying what you need in a more prestigious neighborhood may provide more financial reward than getting what you want in a less desirable neighborhood.

Bedrooms and Bathrooms

Three and four bedroom houses are the most popular among homebuyers, so if you can stick in that range you will have more potential buyers when it comes time to resell. Five is okay, too, as long as you do not have to pay too much extra for the additional bedroom.

There should always be at least two bathrooms in a house, preferably at least two and a half. One bathroom with a place to wash up for day-to-day visitors, one for the master bedroom, and at least one to be shared by the other bedrooms.

Closets, Garages and Laundry

Walk-in closets are extremely desirable for the master bedroom. For the rest of the house, just be sure there is plenty of closet space. Don’t forget space for linens and towels.

Garages add to the resale value and you should always make sure to get at least a two-car garage. Lately, three-car garages have become desirable in some areas of the country.

The laundry facilities should be located somewhere convenient on the main floor of the house, but not in a place it will create an eyesore. Think about whether you want to walk up and down stairs when carrying loads of laundry.

The Kitchen

Family activity centers around the kitchen, so this is the most important room of the house. Larger kitchens are better, and they should be provided with modern appliances. Obviously, the dining room and breakfast nook should be located adjacent to the kitchen. In newer houses, the family room should also be extremely close to the kitchen.

There should be easy access to the back yard, as there will be occasions for barbecues and outdoor entertaining. In addition, it should be a short trek between the garage to the kitchen so hauling groceries in from the car does not become a horrendous chore.

Fireplaces

The only room where you absolutely have to have a fireplace is the family room. A fireplace in the living room may be nice, but you pay extra for it and will probably rarely use it. At best, it serves as a focal point of the living room, but does not add much in real value.

Swimming Pools

Swimming pools do not provide as much added value as they once did. Safety issues about families with younger children have become more publicized than in the past, so families with small children tend to avoid homes with pools. As a result, having a pool may actually reduce the number of potential homebuyers when you try to resell the home.

Buy a home with a pool for your own enjoyment, not as an investment.

Since we are on the subject of swimming pools, here is a word of advice: If you want a pool, buy a home that already has a pool. Paying a contractor to install one for you is like throwing money away. You will never get a dollar-for-dollar return on your investment.